Question

Make inferences and draw conclusions about why Beah wrote A Long Way Gone. Use the historical context of the memoir as well as evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Answer 1

Ishmael Beah is the author of the novel A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. In this book, Beah writes about his experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. There are most likely many reasons why Beah decided to write about these experiences.

First of all, Beah most likely wanted to educate people about the dangers and tragedies of war, and more importantly, the tragedy of child soldiers. This was a common feature in many African wars of the time. Therefore, his historical context most likely played an important role in this decision.

Beah probably was also interested in showing his own personal story. This was a way to both collect his memoirs and connect with other people. In order to do so, Beah describes his childhood before the war as a normal, happy one. This shows that he was a child like any other, which allows him to connect with a wider audience.

Answer 2

Beah wrote the book A Long Way Gone in order to share with others how swift and devastating war can be. In the first chapter, Beah describes how he felt about war at the age of ten. "The only wars I knew of were those that I had read about in books or seen in movies . . . , and the one in neighboring Liberia that I had heard about on the BBC news." Like many of his future readers, Beah knew nothing about war except what he had heard, watched, or read about. By spending time showing the peaceful life Beah had before war tore into his home, he forces the reader to imagine how he or she would feel if war arrived so suddenly, at home. In his current life, Beah is an avid speaker on behalf of children who suffer as a result of war. This book is part of his effort to bring awareness to the fortunate ones whose lives have not been touched by war.